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Pentatonic Master Class Workshop
penta positions
Part 2: Playing each position together

This section is the heart of the whole workshop!
The DRILLS!

Make those scales sound like solos and melodies!

It's unlikely you'll do ALL of Part 2 in any one session. If you
can, you're gonna set the world on fire!

Just do as much as you can each session. But I strongly
recommend sticking with this as your MAIN practice session,
at least until you get through it once!

Do what you can each session, and pick up where you left off
the session before.

. . . REMINDER . . .
Do Not Use a flimsy, flexible PICK!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once you can play Part 1 & Part 2, then you should start playing some
of the JAMS! There are no instructions for these jams. Just figger it out! Ha!

PART 2: All 5 Positions, together ~ The Dreaded DRILLS!

THE PATTERNS! It's all about PATTERNS! Now you know the 5
positions. The patterns, shapes. Let's get them sounding like music!

Here's how the Drills work. The 1st group is in 4s, or quads.
You play the 1st 4 notes. A C D E. Then the 2nd 4 notes. C D E G.
Then the 3rd 4 notes. D E G A. Etc.

These are called Spider Drills, or Crawl Drills. You just keep moving
to the next note as the 1st note of 4.

I won't TAB all of these exercises. At least not completely. Because
you should be able to figure them out quickly. I WILL describe the
PATTERN! And THAT'S what you need to know.

Keep in mind, after only a short time, these will become easier to play.
You will start to see dramatic improvement daily! And not just on these
exercises. But IN EVERYTHING YOU PLAY! Chords, scales, solos!

Objective: Be able to play all tracks, to the end, without much,
if any difficulty! Smoothly, accurately!

So, how long will it take? Guess who STILL does these drills! Yeah, ME!
All of the exercizes will become a LOT easier once you know the scales
and patterns. They're only a tad confusing at first. Trust me!

And guess what? Most of those cool solos you want to play use these
EXACT PATTERNS! Once you get'm, you got'm!

Here we go!... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you mess up, STOP! Start the track again.
Do each track 3 times - JUST TILL YOU MESS UP!

NOTE: You can play each of these more than 3 times!
The Drills are the heart of this workshop! THIS is where
you start getting GOOD! It's up to you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first one plays the full 3 octave scale up, then down
in 1st position. Then you play the same scale, same position
but start on C, not A! Same fingering, just don't play A. Repeat!
But there's a TWIST! The first cycle (A then C) you play Am from
A, up and back down, over an Am chord progression. Then you play
from C, over a C major chord progression. Then . . .

You play the same cycle again, A then C, but this time you play
both scales over Am! Then . . .

You play it a 3rd time, this time both scales over a C major
progression! So the progressions for the 3 cycles is . . .

Am C ~ Am Am ~ C C. You'll hear each scale seem to "change"
as you play over different chords! The "feel" will be different!
Each cycle gets progressively faster, as always!

Track 6: 6 Am - CM Pentatonic Drills 1

A C D E G A C D E G A C A HOLD
C A G E D C A G E D C A A HOLD

C D E G A C D E G A C A C HOLD
C A G E D C A G E D C A C HOLD
Am C major position 1

Up, then back down!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Track 7: 7 AmP5P Drills 1-5 QUADS Q1 4m11s

Play the 1st 4 notes. A C D E. Start on the 2nd note and play the
next 4 notes. C D E G. Then start on 4, D E G A, etc.
Am pentatonic position 1
Up, then back down! Stop when you mess up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracks 8 & 9: 8 AmP5P Drills 1-5 QUADS Q2 SLOW 4m49s.MP3

Q2 plays notes 1 2 3 4 3. A C D E D
So 1 up to 2 up to 3 up to 4 DOWN to 3

Then BACK DOWN: E D C A C.

Then start on note 2, C. C D E G E ~ G E D C D, Etc.

Before you do the drill, play this SLOW speed drill a few times
until you get the pattern.
Am pentatonic position 2

Am pentatonic position 2
Then back down!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Track 10: 10 AmP5P Drills 1-5 QUADS Q3 8m 28s.MP3

This exercise separates the men from the boys!
It's similar to Track 2. You play NOTES 1234 1234 1234 3
ACDE ACDE ACDE D. Then move up to note 2 as usual and repeat.
Coming back down, you play CAGE CAGE CAGE G
Am pentatonic position 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Triplets!

These are very similar to the above exercises, except you play "3 note"
patterns instead of 4 notes. Triplets will get a bit more aggressive.
That's why we did quads first! You count these: 123 123, etc.
trip' - a - let trip' - a - let

Track 11: 11 AmP5P Drills 1-5 TRIPS T1 6m0s.MP3

THE PATTERNS! You play the 1st 3 notes 123, then note 4, then
back down to 3 and 2. Play it 3 times, end on the 1st note and hold it.

123 432 123 432 123 432 1 HOLD. Then move up to note 2.
A C D E D C A C D E D C A C D E D C A HOLD 1 2 3
C D E G E D C D E G E D C D E G E D C HOLD 1 2 3
D E G A G E . . . E G A C A G . . . ETC!

Play each one UP. Then play them back DOWN.
Am pentatonic position 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Track 12: 12 AmP5P Drills 1-5 TRIPS T2 5m21s.MP3

Track 12 is identical to Track 11, except it starts at a faster tempo.
Once you can get through Track 11, work on Track 12!

Am pentatonic position 5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Boxes!

Ya know the expression "In The Box"! Well, there's a special
BOX inside the penta scale, 1st position! Sometimes we call it
The Money Maker! Here's why . . .

Box 1 sounds cool, melodic. But it doesn't cut through the mix
very well. Box 4 is FUN! But if you stay on the high notes all
the time, it gets boring to the listener! Listen to those great
solos you love. Most of the solo will usually be in the
Money Maker Box!

The whole scale, when broken down, is made up of 4 small
boxes. And 2 of them can be combined into one Big Box!
Am pentatonic position 4
Tracks 13 & 14: 13 AmP5P Drills 7 BOX 1 UP 2m2s.MP3

ACDCDE ACDCDE ACDCDE slide to G
Play each one UP. Next track, play them back DOWN.
Am pentatonic box 1

Track 14: 14 AmP5P Drills 8 BOX 2 DOWN 2m2s.MP3
Play them back down
EDCDCA EDCDCA EDCDCA E

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The BB Box!
This one is FUN! And sounds GREAT!
Am BB Box

We're really getting into SOLO Territory now! We're going to work on
just these 5 notes! And we'll use different fingering. Not the same as
we usually do in the "positions"! So grab your axe in a Blues Grip!
Am pentatonic position 4
Tracks 15, 16 & 17: 15 AmP5P Drills 9 BB BOX 1 UP.MP3

The reason this whole thing works is because of repetition! You're
building stamina! Endurance! And BUILDING MUSCLE MEMORY!
You're doing things now you never did before! And you will
progress beyond the plateau you've been stuck in!

Am pentatonic position 4

COUNT-IN: 123 123
UP: 1 2 3 4 5 4 ~ 1 2 3 4 5 4 ~ 1 2 3 4 5 4 ~ 3
E G A C D C ~ E G A C D C ~ E G A C D C ~ A

Am pentatonic position 4
DOWN: 5 4 3 2 1 2 ~ 5 4 3 2 1 2 ~ 5 4 3 2 1 2 ~ 3
D C A G E G ~ D C A G E G ~ D C A G E G ~ A

Up 2 times, Down 2 times. Repeat!

If you think this one was cool, wait till we add in
the Albert King Box in Part 3!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Big Box!

This one is The Money Maker!

Am BB Box

Here's where you'll be for those killer solos you love! Yeah, we
hit a lot of those high notes! And they're fun! But this is where
the money's at!

When you can nail the BB Box and the Big Box . . .
you're gonna be JAMMING!

Am BIG Box
Track 18: 18 AmP5P Drills 1 BIG BOX LO HI.MP3

This exercise starts a new way of playing the scales. Instead of
playing all the notes in a row, we play them "broken". Not all in
order. This opens up doors! It produces coulorful sound. More inter-
esting. It allows us to use the same notes and make phrases LONGER!

In this next exercise, we play notes DEGACD. But we start on the 2nd
note, E. Play the note before it, D. Then E again. E D E. Then the
next note above E is G. Now do the same with G and E. G E G. Next
note above G is A. Play A and the note before it, G, Then A again.

it's just a staircase. Start on one step. Step down one step. And
back up. Ten step up to the next higher step. down a step, back up.
Then up to the next step!

It's important you get this! It's the main building block for
the whole thing! Learn this pattern!
Am BIG Box
EDE GEG AGA CAC DCD CAC A
UP

Track 19: 19 AmP5P Drills 2 BIG BOX HI LO.MP3

DCD CAC AGA GEG EDE DEG E
DOWN

Track 20: 20 AmP5P Drills 3 BIG BOX LO HI HI LO.MP3

EDE GEG AGA CAC DCD CAC A
DCD CAC AGA GEG EDE DEG E
UP DOWN

Track 21: 21 AmP5P Drills 4 BIG BOX 1 DOWN.MP3

DCAGED DCAGED DCAGED C
DOWN

Track 22: 22 AmP5P Drills 5 BIG BOX 2 UP.MP3

DEGACD DEGACD DEGACD C
UP

Track 23: 23 AmP5P Drills 6 BIG BOX 3 UP DOWN.MP3

DEGACD DEGACD DEGACD C
DCAGED DCAGED DCAGED C
UP DOWN

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Extending Scales ~ Get a bigger bang for your buck!!

As I said above a time or two, we can stretch out the scales and patterns
to cover a larger amount of territory, spread it out across the whole
fretboard, using the same notes! We just repeat notes in a pattern!

Here are 2 scale patterns to work on that do this! The first one simply
plays the whole scale DOWN, then UP. The second one takes the same scale,
but breaks it up into a 3-note patterns.

The 1st Pattern: Starting at the top of the scale,1st position, on C, finger 4.
Am F#m
Pattern 1

1). You go DOWN 6 notes. CAGEDC
2). Starting 1 note lower than you ended above (C), go from A, UP 6 notes. ACDEGA
3). Starting 1 note lower than you ended. (A) go DOWN - repeat the pattern. GEDCAG
4). Same as #2. EGACDE 5). Same as #3. DCAGED 6). Same as #2 CDEGAC
7). Same as #3. AGEDCA 8). Same as #2 EXCEPT when you play the lowest note or highest
notes, you change direction. SO, you repeat A and go UP. ACDEGA

This is played over a 12-bar Am Blues, and we need to end up at the end of measure 12. So
9). Jump DOWN to E for the turn-around and go UP. EGACDE
10). Drop down to D. DEGACD
11). Finish the turn-around by playing the whole scale, UP from A, 6th string!

So you can see the stairstep pattern here.
CAGEDC
ACDEGA
GEDCAG
EGACDE
DCAGED
CDEGAC
AGEDCA
ACDEGA

TURN-AROUND
EGACDE
DEGACD

ACDEGACDEGACDEGAC

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 2nd Pattern: Starting at the top of the scale,1st position, on C, finger 4.
Am F#m
Pattern 2

You play DOWN 3 notes, CAG. Back up 1, Play DOWN 3 notes from A. AGE.
Repeat the pattern. Play 3, back up one, play 3, etc.

End playing the fill scale, single notes, like you did in the above exercise.
So you can see the stairstep pattern here.
CAG AGE GED, etc. Then . . .
ACDEGACDEGACDEGAC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Am F#m!

OK, let's change it up a little! The next 2 tracks play Am and F#m
Pentatonic scales, in 2 different ways! The Am scale will be the same
as usual, in 1st position, 5th fret. We'll play F#m 2 ways.

After playing 1st position Am, slide down to the 2nd fret, so
finger 1 is covering the F#, 2nd fret.

1). For the first track, play the 1st position penta scale on fret 2,
but DO NOT play the F#! Start the scale on A, 4th finger on 5th fret.
So you play . . .

The track alternates over Am and F#m chords.
Am penta, Up then Down:
ACDEGACDEGAC A HOLD
CAGEDCAGEDCA A HOLD
F#m penta, Up from A, then Down:
ABC#EF#ABC#EF#A F# F# HOLD
AF#EC#BAF#EC#BAF# A

Am F#m
Am Penta, 5th fret, then F#m Penta, 2nd fret from "A".
From A

2). Almost exactly the same, except in this track, you DO play the F#!
So you play the regulat 1st position scale 5th fret for Am, then 2nd
fret for F#m.

The track alternates over Am and F#m chords.
Am penta, Up then Down:
ACDEGACDEGAC A HOLD
CAGEDCAGEDCA A HOLD

F#m penta, 1st position, fret 2.
F#ABC#EF#ABC#EF#A F# HOLD
AF#EC#BAF#EC#BAF# F# HOLD

Am F#m
Am Penta, 5th fret, then F#m Penta, 2nd fret from "F#".
From F#

Notice how both scales sound uniquely different over the 2
progressions! It sounds like you're playing 6 different scales!
All with ONE scale shape!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ITM Swing Feel!

Remember the old Swing smash hit, In The Mood? It has a rhythm,
a "feel". Triplets.

Da dada Dadada Da dada Dadada Da dada Dadada Daaaa!

That's the kind of feeling we're going for here. Playing these
rhythms slowly kinda loses that feel. So when you start each of
these, they might seem a bit lame. But as the tempo picks up,
you'll start to feel it!

Keep in mind, it's REPETITION and REDUNDANCY that will
turn you into a monster player!

Also, keep in mind, all of these tracks consist of the exact phrases
used in the majority of those incredible solos you want to play!

OK, so the instructions are going to diminish now. I'll just show
you the pattern. Before you start each track, go over the pattern.
Make sure it makes sense. ETC. means do the same for each note in
the scale as usual!

26 AmP5P Drills 1-5 TRIPS ITM 1 SLOW 2m44s.MP3
The pattern: 1st, 2nd and 3rd note of the scale played 3 times,
ending on the 1st note. This one's really slow but you need to "get"
the pattern. It's used in ALL of the tracks in this section!

Track 26: 26 AmP5P Drills 1-5 TRIPS ITM 1 SLOW 2m44s.MP3

NOTE: In this SLOW track, UP is played once each pattern,
DOWN is played twice! (Ooops!)
UP 1x: ACD ACD ACD A HOLD ~ CDE CDE CDE C HOLD Etc.
Down 2x: CAG CAG CAG C HOLD ~ AGE AGE AGE A HOLD
UP DOWN

Track 27: 27 AmP5P Drills 1-5 TRIPS ITM 1 2m44s.MP3

UP: ACD ACD ACD ACD ACD ACD A HOLD ETC.
DOWN: CAG CAG CAG C HOLD ~ AGE AGE AGE A HOLD
UP DOWN

Track 28: 28 AmP5P Drills 1-5 TRIPS ITM 2 3m5s.MP3

This track plays each phrase 2 times, each ending on
a different note.
ACD ACD ACD ACD E HOLD (Ends on the next higher note)
ACD ACD ACD ACD G HOLD (ends on the note before the 1st one)
CDE CDE CDE CDE G HOLD
CDE CDE CDE CDE A HOLD ETC.
ALL UP, then DOWN

Track 29: 29 AmP5P Drills 1-5 TRIPS ITM 3 2m9s.MP3

Similar to the above track, this one plays the phrase 6 times
UP, then back down starting from the last note in the phrase.

UP: ACD ACD ACD ACD ACD ACD E HOLD
DOWN: EDC EDC EDC EDC EDC EDC A HOLD ETC.
UP DOWN

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This one is a REAL MONEY MAKER! Nail It!

The 1st 3 tracks are "Learn'm" tracks. You WORK these 3 track together.
Do each one as always, until you mess up.

Everything you've done so far is preparation for this ONE group of
drills! These . . . will make you a Soloist! And, a GOOD ONE!

Picture going up a staircase. You step up to step 2, back down to 1,
then back up to 2. Then up to 3, down to 2, up to 3 again. Etc.
Am C major position 1
Basically, all you do is start from the 2nd note of the scale. "C"
in this case. Then play the note before it. So, C A C. And that's
the magic! You just play the scale, starting from the 2nd note.
C D E G A, etc. And afer you play each note, play the note before
it and repeat the note. So each note is played twice, with the note
before it in the middle. 212, 323, 434, 545, etc!
Am C major position 1

You do ALL 3 of these every session!
Track 30: 30 A AmP5P Drills Money Maker Pattern UP.MP3

So, the whole killer scale is just a bunch of "3-note" phrases! But you
need to be able to play each one as a separate phrase, and in groups
of phrases. The 1st track will get you there!

You play notes:
212 212 212212212 2. Then 323 323 323323323 3. Etc,!
Am C major position 1
UP

DOWN

Learn it! Do it now for the whole scale. No tempo changes. When you
have the pattern down, go to the next track. It could take a few sessions.

The whole Scale

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You will notice a bit of redundncy in the next section. So, read THIS . . .

In engineering and systems theory, redundancy is the intentional
duplication of critical components or functions of a system with
the goal of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the form
of a backup or fail-safe, or to improve actual system performance.

'Nuff said!

You do the next 3 tracks in order, as you are able to complete
each one. Stay on the 1st one until you NAIL IT! Next session,
skip this one and work on the 2nd one. When you have it nailed,
do the 3rd one each session.

This track starts a bit slower and gets progressively faster.
Don't move on to the next one until you can get through this one!
SLOW

This one gets a bit more aggressive! Stay here until you nail it!
MEDIUM

Nail this one, and your concert tour contract is a shoe in!

JAMMIN' FAST!


OK, one more track before we go to Part 3. (Pentatonic Positions 2 to 5,
and lots of soloing applications! Putting it all to work!)

Track 37: 37 AmP5P Drills 1-5 TRIPS ITM 4 SKIPS 1m55s 3.MP3

JUST PLAY EVERY OTHER NOTE! Play 1, skip 2. Play 3, skip 4. Play 5!
UP: ADG CEA DGC EAD GCE ADG CEA DGC A HOLD
DOWN: CGD AEC GDA ECG DAE CGD AEC GDA A HOLD

Am C major position 1
UP then DOWN


~
HOLY SMOKES!

You made it this far!
Congrats!

Am C major position 1
OK, now you can go to the Part 2 DRILLS page! Not so much scrolling!
Part 2: DRILLS

You've nearly made it through this entire workshop! You've
come a long way! But we still need to tie it all together! We
have 2 more things to do!

1). We need to tie this up. Get you playing some real solos! But
you need a few more phrases to do this!
2). We've focussed heavily on the 1st position. Worked a little
on the other 4 positions. We're gonna change the focus of this
workshop shortly. Up until now, my main concern was getting you
to understand the scale. AND . . . to build up your hand and
finger strength! AND . . . Muscle Memory!

If I included the other 4 position in all of these exercises
so far, it would have been really confusing! But now you have a
solid handle on Pentatonics. We'll start working with the other
positions shortly!

So, how will we put this all together? With the Jam Tracks!
You'll use what you learned so far, and what new in Part 3
to build your solos!

Part 3 has more than just Jam Tracks!
It's all part of the learning process!

Ready to ROCK! Jump on over to Part 3: Jam Workouts!

NOTE: You still WORK Part 2 every session! Do what you can!
Then spend some time in Part 3 for a few more learning sections,
and a LOT OF FUN!

When you're ready, go here to JAM!
Part 3: The JAM WORKOUTS! It's time to PLAY!

DOWNLOADS

If you'd prefer working this entire workshop offline, but I recommend
doing the entire workshop online at least once because there will be
ZERO guides or instructions in the downloaded files.

When you're ready, go here to the downloads page.
ALL FILES DOWNLOAD PAGE

Contact me any time! Got a question?
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